Railway car end arrangment



W. B. DEAN ETAL RAILWAY CAR END ARRANGEMENT July 31, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed Oct. 2, 1945 lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll l|| INVENTOS:'WaZier B.Dean, kaymon d J. Theriault 'ATTORJVEY 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 w. B;DEAN ETAL RAILWAY CAR END ARRANGEMENT July 31, 1951 Filed Oct. 2, 1945INVENTORS Walter B.Decm, Raymond J. Tnerzault. BY

4% ATTORNEY July 31, 1951 w. B.- DE-AN ETAL RAILWAY CAR END ARRANGEMENT4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 2, 1945 uvvroas 4 Walter 13. Dean, Raymond.1 Them'agult ATTOE Juiy 31,1951 w. B. DEAN ETAL 2,562,448

RAILWAY CAR END ARRANGEMENT Filed Oct. 2, 1945 4 Sheets- Sheet 4 Theinvention relates Patented July 31, 1951 UNITED. STATES PATENT oFFrcERAILWAY CAR END ARRANGEMENT Walter B. Dean, Narberth, and Raymond J.Theriault, Glenside, Pa., assignors to TheBudd Company,Philadelphia,'Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 2,1945, Serial No. 619,826

'7 Claims. (01. 10510) to railway cars, and particularly to the endconstruction of such cars as provide a central passageway betweencoupled cars;

The cars to which the invention relates are usually equipped with acombined buifer and face plate having a fiat face surrounding a doorwayopening therein and engaging, when two such cars are in coupledrelation, a corresponding face plate of the adjoining coupled car. Theface plates of the adjoining coupled cars are normally yieldingly urgedoutwardly to engage each other through their fiat faces withconsiderable force, particularly in their lower regions, and they arepreferably supported for limited yieldingly restrained universalmovement with respect to the adjacent car body ends.

When the car couplers are in tension, i. e. subject to draft forces, theresilient draft gear usually provided allows the coupled car ends toseparate slightly, but such separation is not sulficient to allow theface plates, urged outwardly by resilient means under considerablecompression when the cars are coupled, to separate from each other. Whenthe couplers are in heavy compression as happens under heavy forces inbuff, the face plates are forced together with increased pressure andthere results therefore a strong frictional resistance to relativelateral 'or vertical movement of the two face plates under such pressureengagement. I

It is desirable to have the face plates of adjoining coupled cars movetogether under small relative vertical or lateral movements of thecoupled car body ends, in order to avoid the grating noise and wearproduced by the sliding of the flat faces of the plates on each other.Such relative movements of the car body ends "occur wherever there areslight irregularities in the tracks even on straightaway tracks and oncurves, dips or rises in the track. To eifect such movement together,the face plates are so yieldingly mounted on the car body ends that theyhave limited resiliently restrained. movement,

both laterally and vertically, as well as the usual 'in and out andangular movement, the latter in particular taking place when the coupledcars are rounding a curve in the track.

To allow excessive such movement of the face plates is not desirablebecause, among other things, it unnecessarily complicates the mountingof the face plates and increases the overall weight of the cars. Sincethe tendency to excessive such movement between car body ends is howeverencountered under certain conditions of operation,

v2---2 of Fig. 1, through the adjacent ends of two coupled cars showingthe relative positions of the parts under normal straightaway operating.and side doorway and the other without.

such slight degrees of movement, but if excessive movement tends tooccur, then theface plates are solidly engaged with their adjacent carends to prevent such excessive relative movement.

It is an object of the invention to provide a car end construction ofthis class which allows the desirable limited universal movement of theface plate opposed by yielding restraining means, but which provides apositive stop to prevent such excessive movement as might result ininjuring the parts yieldingly restraining the faceplate.

It is a further object of the invention to provide for such yieldinglyrestrained vertical and lateral and angular movement of the face plate,but in which there is provided simple means for normally yieldinglyholding the face plate central 'or for returning it to-central positionwhen displaced therefrom.

. Other and further objects and advantages and the manner inwhich theyare attained will become apparent from the following detaileddescription when read in connection with the drawings forming a parthereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is an end elevational ,view of a railway car equipped with theinvention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view,taken substantially along the line conditions, one carbeing shown with avestibule Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2, the section inthis case beingjtaken substantially along a plane indicated by the line.3-3 of Fig. 1, the parts being shown inthe relative positions whichthey normally occupy in rounding a curve in the track. I I i Figs. 4 and5 are fragmentary vertical sectional 'views taken, respectively,substantially alongthe lines 4-4 and 55 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view taken substantially along the line 66of Figs. 2 and 3.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view on a reduced scale showingthe support of the diaphragm face plate from the car end wall, partsbeing broken away and shown .inisection.

In the-drawings the invention is shown'applied to a railway car having aside wall and underframe construction generally similar to thatdisclosed in copending applications Serial .No. 585,899, filed March 31,1945, now "Patent No. 2,504,659 issued April 18, 1950, and'serial No.588,866, filed April 17, 1945, :now sBatent .No. 2,504,113 issued April18, 1950, respectively, but the specific side wall and underframeconstruction has no necessary relation to the invention except asmodified to incorporate the features of the invention, and it will beunderstood that the showin is merely illustrative of one form ofcartbody *cons'tru'ctiondzo which thez invention may be applied.

The c'ar 'body may :comprise the end wall 10, connected iat:sicles and'top to the side walls -ll .and ;.the roof and at-the bottom to thecarbody undierirame 42. .The .transverse'endmember of ltheunder-frame maycomprise a sill casting l3 lrigidlyrsecured, to ia center sill structureH as iby.;horizontal weld lines, indicated 'at [5, Fig. 3, and verticalweld lines indicated at i6, Fig. -3. The center sill has spaced verticalside walls l1, :1?! welded at 16, to-the vertical web l8, l8, of atheendsill casting I3. It :has upper and lower {horizontal bracing webs l9 andwhich are (secured to the end sillcasting :by horizontal weld lines, ,as15.

",wBetween the side walls :I'I, H is disposed a usual :form of yieldingbuffer 2| acted on by the central buffer stem -22' guided in the endsill casting and, projecting beyond its outer face 23. onoppositesides-of thelbuffer stem are arranged =a.-pairofhollow-projections or bosses, 14, 24, generally annularincrosssection-but of less vertical than lateral dimension, and taperingtoward their :outer ends, the projections also-extending beyond theouter face .23-of the endsill casting .for a ,purpose to be, hereinafterdescribed.

jI hese projections are disposed in longitudinal alignment with theyertical webs l8, l8 which are bifurcated at their ends to bracethebases of'the .-projections. Laterally of .the bosses or projections-24, thecastingis formed withdongi- .tudinal-openings.2'5, 25 whichloosely receive the ,sidesstemsis, 26 =therethrouh.

The center stem is urged outwardly 'by the usual bulfer spring (notshown) and has abutting engagement with the .transverse'bu'ffer casting21 forming the lower transverse member of the face plate assembly,generally designated 28. Theside stems 26, 25 are hinged at their outerends at "29, 29,1to the buffer casting 21 "and at their"'inner "endsthey extend loosely through "bracketsill, 30 s'ecuredto the respectiveside walls -Fl, 'H and upper bracing webs l9, 19 of the center sill.'They are constantly urged -outwar'dly *by the coil springs 3|, 3|reacting againstshoulders 32, 32, and the respective brackets 30, 30.

The side stems, :as clearly appears, in Fig. 3, have substantialclearance between them and -the-respective"openings :25 in theend sillcasting, to permit limited movement both vertically "and horizontallybetween their outer ends and the endsillcasting. -To.-.facilitatethisswinging movement of the sidestems, the brackets 30, 30 are providedwith re-entrant ball 'faced seats 36,

36 for cooperation with similar bosses on washers 33, 33, interposedbetween the springs 3|, 3i and the respective brackets 30, 30.

Outward movement of the side stems is limited by nuts 34, 34 screwedonto their inner ends :andwashers 35, '35 having bosses similar to thewashers 3 3, 33 and adapted to engage re-entrant seats similar to seats36, 35 on the opposite sides of the brackets 30 from the re-entrantseats engaged .by washers 33, 33.

According to the invention, simple leaf spring means are provided fornormally holding the buffer and face ,plate assembly central. Suchmean'smay comprise the double multi-leaf cantilever springs 31, 31, oneinterposed between each side stem and the adjacent vertical side wall P1of the center sill. The inner end of each spring 31 is loosely held by abracket, as 38, secured to the upper center sill bracing web I9, while:its outer end bears against the bearing .:plate,"as '39, secured ltOthe inboard side .of the adjacent side stem 26, the central clampingsleeve 40 of the spring being seated in a socket 41 secured to theadjacent side wall 11 of the center sill.

The weight 'of the buffer andface plateassem- =b1y 28.may be carriedbythe end wall-of the car i-'0, which includes the spaced collision posts42, 42, in avmanner similar to that shown in Patent No. 2,415,385,issued February 4, 1947 to W. B. Dean et al., andentitled DiaphragmSupport for Railway Cars. This support is through the hanger rods, 43,43 ,(seeFigs. 1 and '7 pivoted at their lower ends at 44, 44 (seeFigs. 2and 7) t0 the respective sides-of the face plate assembly and at theirupper ends having cushioned con- .nections 45, 45,-with-brackets 45, 46secured to the respective collision :posts. The pivotal con- ;nectionat-their lower-ends is a loose connection. .and the cushioned connection:at the top is through rubber cushions .so as to zpermit slight up anddown and .sidewise movement of :the .face plate-assembly 28.

v At-the top, the face plate .assembly 28.is.held ,yieldingly spacedZ'from .the end wall 10 .by ,a usual-transverseleaf spring '41, thecentral portionof the spring being connected to the .face :plate:assembly .28 .and the 'ends having a usual pivotal connectionart-48,48, to the carend well,

see Fig. 1.

The face plate assembly r28 Jis shownes com- ;prisinga .face plate.proper extending around the .sides andtopofanoorway opening and formingwith :the buffer pasting facing ,plate 50, -a fiat face :forengagementwith a corresponding face ,plate onan adjoining-coupled car. This face,plate is connected at sides'and .top to the end wall by .a usualflexible inner diaphragm 5 l .As shown, the face plate assembly alsosupports .springmressed hinged-side members 52, :52 which .are connectedby .anouterfiexible diaphragm 53 to the outer :margin of the sides and:topof the car .to .form a streamline continuation" thereof.

:It a will be understood that the. invention :is not limited-to thisparticular type of faceplate assembly, but is'equally-applicabletootheriorms of face plate?assemblies, having norouter diaphra msupport.

.-Accordin g to the invention, the buffer casting :21 :is;provided=opposite the projecting bosses -24 with recesses v54 4 ofsomewhat ,larger dimensions .both vertically -zand .laterally thantheouter'dtmensions -.of .the .bosses, :these recesses being .de-

signe d ,.to cooperate with the-bosses under certain condition toprovide positive stops which prevent wee-.

excessive lateral and/or vertical relative movement between the faceplate assembly and the car end.

To facilitate the assembly or dis-assembly of the side stems 2% withoutremoving the face plate assembly 23, the brackets 36 are preferablylongitudinally split in planes passing through the respective openingstherein, into two parts, normally held together by bolts 55. When it isdesired to remove a side stem the hinge bolt 29 connecting the stem tothe buffer casting, and the bolts 55 connecting the two part bracket areremoved, after which the bracket parts can be separated, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 6 and the side stem and spring assembly can beinwardly withdrawn, the openings in the end sill casting beingsufficiently large to permit the outer enlarged end of the stems to passthrough them. It can be similarly readily assembled in the reverseorder.

With the face plate mounting herein described, it will be seen that itis mounted for universal movement to a limited extent in all directions,but is restrained against such movement by yielding means. Such movementis desirable to allow the two face plates of adjoining coupled cars tofollow each others movements to a lim-v ited extent, such as occurs whenthe cars are moving along a fairly smooth track, without sliding on eachother and thereby producing grating noises. Normally the face plates areheld central by the leaf springs 37, 3?, as shown in Fig. 2. The lostmotion extension of the side stems through the openings 25 in the endsill permits limited lateral movement oftlie face plates with respect tothe end sill against the pressure of said springs. If the face platesare forced laterally when the cars are in buff the frictional engagementbetween them is sufiiciently great to overcome the centering springs 31and may cause bending of the side stems, if they are moved laterally anexcessive amount, by engagement with the sides of the openings 25. Undersuch conditions, the bosses 24 extending between the sides of therecesses 5 positively prevent such excessive lateral movement, bystriking the adjacent sides of the recesses before the side stems engagethe sides of the openings 25.

The same positive limitation of the vertical movements of the face plateis prevented by the bosses 24 striking the top or bottom walls of therecesses 54 before the side stems strike the tops and bottoms of theopenings 25.

This arrangement permits the use of lighter side stems without exposingthem to the danger of injury on excessive lateral or vertical movementsof the face plate, which may occur under excessive buff forcesespecially while rounding a curve or in going over a hump or depressionin the tracks.

Fig. 3 shows how one of the projections 24 enters a depression or recess54 in rounding a curve even when the cars are in normal coupled relationwithout excessive buff, and since the tendency to excessive lateralmovement of the face plates is accentuated, due to centrifugal force, inrounding a curve, this insures that such excessive movement cannot occurunder these conditions under any conditions of operation.

The center stem 22 engages the buffer casting 2'? through its roundedend by a simple abutting engagement and does not interfere to anymaterial extent with the desired limited lateral and vertical movementsof the face plate. The center and side stems together resilientlymaintain the bulfersand face plates proper of two coupled cars inengagement under all conditions of operation. 7

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been herein describedin detail it will be understood that changes and modifications may bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from the mainfeatures of the invention and such changes and modifications areintended to be covered in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A railway car end arrangement comprising a car body end framing, adiaphragm face plate assembly, including a bottom transverse member,supported from said end framing, yielding,

' means associated with said support permitting.

limited universal movement including lateral and vertical movement ofsaid face plate as sembly with respect to the car body end framing. andcushioning such movement, and positivestop means comprising a directmetal to metal engagement between the bottom transverse member of saidface plate assembly and the car body end framing for positively limitingthe cushioned relative lateral and vertical movements of said face plateassembly.

2. A railway car end arrangement comprising acar end frame including atransversely extending end underframemembena center sill structuresecured to said. end underframe member, a

buffer carrying a face plate supported in outwardly spaced relation fromsaid end underframe, means for yieldingly urging the buffer and faceplate outwardly including side stems having theirouter ends pivoted tosaid buffer and passing, through openings freely receiving them in theend underframe member and, adjacent their inner ends, passing throughguiding means secured to the center sill structure, said side stemsflanking the opposite sides of the center sill structure in spacedrelation thereto, and resilient means operatively engaging therespective stems near their outer ends and removably interposed betweenthe opposite sides of said center sill structure and the respective sidestems to yieldingly hold said buffer and face plate centered butpermitting cushioned lateral movement thereof.

3. A railway car end arrangement comprising a car end frame including atransversely extending end underframe member, a diaphragm face plateassembly supported in outwardly spaced relation from said end frame,means for yieldingly urging the face plate assembly outwardly includingside stems passing through openings freely receiving them in saidmember, yielding means engaging said side stems laterally for holdingsaid face plate assembly centered but permitting limited cushionedlateral movement thereof, and positive step means directly between saidface plate assembly and said transverse member for stopping said lateralmovement before either side stem forcibly engages the side of itsassociated opening.

4. A railway car end arrangement comprising a car end frame including atransversely extending end underframe member, a center sill structuresecured to said end underframe member, a

diaphragm face plate assembly supported in steam to the opposite sidesof said-center sill structure, their inner ends being guided by bracketssecured to the center sillstructure, and a pair of readily mountable anddemountable leaf spring elements, one interposed between each side stemand the adjacent side of said center sill structure and engaging theassociated sidestem near its outer end, for normally holding the faceplate assembly centered but permitting cushioned limited lateralmovements thereof.

5. A railway car end arrangement comprising a car body end framing, adiaphragm race plate assembly, including a bottom transverse member,supported therefrom from said endframing, yielding means associated withsaid support permitting limited lateral movement of said face plateassembly with respect to the car body framing and cushioning suchmovement, and positive stop means comprising a direct metal to metalengagement between the bottom transverse member of said face plateassembly and the car body framing for limiting the cushioned relativelateral movements of said face plate assembly.

6. A railway car end arrangement comprising a car body underframeincluding a transversely extending end member, a buffer member supportedoutwardly of said end'mem'ber, and yielding means for urging said buffermember outwardly, said means'inclu'ding side stems pivoted to thebuffermember and passing freely through openings-in said transverselyextending member, an inner abutment means surrounding and looselyguiding the inner ends of said stems, springs interposed between saidstems and the abutment means, said "abutment "means being splitlengthwise or the associated stem into two separable parts, to permitready assembly of the side stems and springs with, and disassembly from,the'und'e'rframe and buffer without removing the bufier from its normalposition.

7. A railway car end arrangement comprising a car body end framingincluding a transversely extending end member, a buffer member supportedoutwardly from said end framing for in and out, angular and limitedtransverse move= merit with respect thereto, means yieldingly re=straining the movements of said buffer member, and "positive stop meansbetween said buffer member'and said end member for positivelylimitingthe yieldingly'restrained lateral movements of the buffermember, said means comprising integral projections on one of saidmembers adapted to project into recesses loosely receiving them'on theother. I

WALTER B. DEAN. RAYMOND J. THERIAULT.

RE FEREN CES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patenti UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 443,075 Elliott Dec.16, 1890 474,966 McElroy May 17, 1892 489,906 Hancock Jan. 10, 18931,923,441 Kass et a1. Aug. 22, 1933 2,073,198 Doclds, Jr. Mar. 9, 19372,132,327 Tatum Oct. 4, 1938 2,337,081 Blomberg Dec. 21, 1943 2,385,138Keller Sept. 18, 1945

